Prevalence and correlates of mild cognitive impairment among diverse Hispanics/Latinos: Study of Latinos-Investigation of Neurocognitive Aging results

IntroductionWe estimated the prevalence and correlates of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) among middle-aged and older diverse Hispanics/Latinos.MethodsMiddle-aged and older diverse Hispanics/Latinos enrolled (n = 6377; 50–86 years) in this multisite prospective cohort study were evaluated for MCI using the National Institute on Aging–Alzheimer's Association diagnostic criteria.ResultsThe overall MCI prevalence was 9.8%, which varied between Hispanic/Latino groups. Older age, high cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, and elevated depressive symptoms were significant correlates of MCI prevalence. Apolipoprotein E4 (APOE) and APOE2 were not significantly associated with MCI.DiscussionMCI prevalence varied among Hispanic/Latino backgrounds, but not as widely as reported in the previous studies. CVD risk and depressive symptoms were associated with increased MCI, whereas APOE4 was not, suggesting alternative etiologies for MCI among diverse Hispanics/Latinos. Our findings suggest that mitigating CVD risk factors may offer important pathways to understanding and reducing MCI and possibly dementia among diverse Hispanics/Latinos.     

Developing a Brief Neuropsychological Battery for Early Diagnosis of Cognitive Impairment

ObjectivesEarly diagnosis of cognitive impairment is increasingly emphasized in the literature to facilitate timely preventive interventions. Although bedside cognitive tests such as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) are widely used for such early diagnostic purposes, they may not have comparable performance to a full neuropsychological battery (FNB) in diagnosing early cognitive impairment. This study investigated whether a small subset of neuropsychological tests can be added on to MoCA to match its performance to that of the FNB in discriminating mild cognitive impairment and dementia (MCI/dementia) from normal cognition.DesignCross-sectional diagnostic study.SettingAlzheimer's Disease Centers across the United States.ParticipantsOlder participants (≥50 years) who completed MoCA and the FNB (N = 9187).MeasuresThe study sample was split into two: the derivation sample (n = 1837) was used to develop a brief neuropsychological battery that best discriminated MCI/dementia (using the best-subset approach with 10-fold cross-validation); while the validation sample (n = 7350) verified its actual performance in discriminating MCI/dementia.ResultsA 3-item neuropsychological battery was identified, comprising MoCA, Benson Complex Figure Recall, and Craft Story 21 Delayed Recall. It had excellent performance in discriminating MCI/dementia from normal cognition (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUROC] 90.0%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 89.2%-90.7%), which was comparable to that of the FNB (AUROC 88.4%, 95% CI 87.6%-89.2%). By contrast, MoCA alone had significantly worse AUROC (86.9%, 95% CI 86.0%-87.7%) than that of the FNB.Conclusions/ImplicationsUsing rigorous methods, this study developed a brief neuropsychological battery that maintained the brevity of a bedside cognitive test, while rivaling the diagnostic performance of an FNB in early cognitive impairment. This brief battery offers a viable alternative when the FNB is needed but cannot be feasibly administered in nonspecialty clinics. It can have a wider health systems effect of improving patients’ access to accurate diagnosis in early cognitive impairment and facilitating timely interventions to delay the progression of cognitive impairment.     

The need for a revival of psychoanalytic investigations into premature ejaculation

Although psychoanalysis was the first-choice treatment for premature ejaculation (PE) between 1920 and 1960, hardly any reports on its efficacy have been published. Moreover, a scientific debate about its findings has never been fully developed. The recent progress that has been made in the classification of three different PE syndromes creates a new opportunity for psychoanalytic investigations of men with complaints of PE, distinguished by the actual duration of their intravaginal ejaculation latency time (IELT). The term premature-like ejaculatory dysfunction has been introduced to distinguish men with self-perceived PE at normal and long IELT durations from those men with lifelong, acquired and normal variable PE. Psychoanalytic research may contribute to a better understanding of the consequences of objective early ejaculations on the unconscious mental life of men with the four forms of PE. By integrating neurobiological, clinical and epidemiological data of ejaculatory performance, a revival of psychoanalytic research of PE in the four distinct, classified PE groups, will probably contribute to a deeper insight in to the unconscious mental life of men affected by PE.     

血清S100ββ变化与老年患者腹部手术后认知功能障碍的关系

目的观察老年患者腹部手术后S100ββ蛋白的变化以及术后认知功能障碍(POCD)的发生情况,并探讨二者的关系。方法26例65岁以上的老年患者ASAⅡ~Ⅲ级,行腹部手术。监测术前、术毕、术后6、24、48、72h血清S100ββ的变化,并评定术前及术后1周内的认知功能。结果老年患者血清S100ββ蛋白在术毕最高(P<0·01),术后6h和24h逐渐下降,但术后48h再次上升(P<0·01),术后72h回复至术前水平。26例老年患者腹部手术后1周内有7例发生POCD。POCD组与非POCD组相比,术毕及术后6h血清S100ββ蛋白水平明显增高(P<0·05)。结论老年患者腹部手术后POCD的发生与血清S100ββ蛋白的变化有密切关系。血清S100ββ蛋白可作为评估老年患者术后发生POCD的重要指标。     

影响颅脑外伤术后颅内感染的危险因素分析

目的探讨影响颅脑外伤开颅术后颅内感染的危险因素。方法采用回顾性研究比较分析了912例颅脑损伤术后出现颅内感染与未出现颅内感染组间的差异因素。结果非感染 770例,颅内感染142例(15．6％)。感染类型有无菌性脑膜炎、细菌性脑膜炎、脑室炎及脑室积脓、脑脓肿、硬膜下腔积脓、术区皮下或(和)骨瓣下化脓或合并骨髓炎、切口感染。细菌检出率占感染的27．5％。颅脑外伤术后感染与高温季节、高龄、重度以上损伤、短期内两次以上手术、连续两侧开颅术、长时间 (>5 h)手术、显微外科手术、颅底与后颅凹手术、脑室外引流、皮下或硬膜外积液以及急诊手术等因素相关(P<0．05)。结论对具有上述危险冈素的易感患者应给予更密切的关注和预防性的处理。     

腹腔镜胆囊切除术7032例临床分析

目的探讨腹腔镜胆囊切除术的手术原则及并发症的预防。方法收集我院1995~2005年完成的7 032例腹腔镜胆囊切除术的临床资料,分析行腹腔镜胆囊切除术的原发疾病种类及术后并发症。结果7 032例腹腔镜胆囊切除术病人中最多的原发疾病为胆囊结石合并慢性胆囊炎,手术后并发症中,术后胆管损伤9例,发生率0.07%,术后出血4例,发生率0.06%,术后胆漏3例,发生率0.04%。结论腹腔镜胆囊切除术充分体现了微创外科的优点,但其操作仍较复杂,实行严格的岗前培训和准入制可避免并发症的发生。     

PDE5基因siRNA对人阴茎海绵体平滑肌细胞cGMP的影响

目的:观察PDE5基因小干扰RNA(siRNA)对人阴茎海绵体平滑肌细胞环磷酸鸟苷(cGMP)的影响,为阴茎勃起功能障碍(ED)的基因治疗提供实验依据。方法:使用美国Amb ion公司提供的设计软件设计并合成人PDE5基因的siRNA序列,合成3对PDE5 siRNA和1对阴性对照siRNA,转染人阴茎海绵体平滑肌细胞,同时设定空白转染组为对照组。以酶联免疫法分别检测转染后不同时间(24、48、72、96 h)点海绵体平滑肌细胞内cGMP浓度变化,观察PDE5 siRNA对海绵体平滑肌细胞内cGMP的影响。结果:siRNA1、siRNA2和siRNA3转染后人阴茎海绵体平滑肌细胞cGMP水平显著高于阴性对照siRNA组和空白对照组(P<0.05),在转染后72 h最为显著,siRNA1、siRNA2、siRNA3、阴性对照siRNA和空白对照组cGMP测定值分别为:5.89±0.19、3.52±0.16、2.88±0.08、0.72±0.12、0.60±0.16 pmol/m l,siRNA1组明显高于siRNA2、siRNA3组(P<0.05)。结论:体外化学合成的PDE5 siRNA能有效地增加海绵体平滑肌细胞内cGMP的水平,不同序列siRNA增加cGMP水平的能力不同,为ED的基因治疗提供了新思路。     

下颌骨即刻植骨术后延期愈合的临床分析

目的探讨下颌骨缺损即刻植骨修复术后,伤口延期愈合的影响因素。方法将下颌骨即刻植骨分为Ⅰ期愈合组和延期愈合组,回顾性地查阅住院病历,按预先设计的表格填写有关项目。结果下颌骨即刻植骨的愈合与患者的年龄、受骨区是否有手术史、植骨的类型、植骨的大小无关;术中口内外相通是植骨延期愈合的主要因素。结论下颌骨良性病变即刻植骨修复时,应密切关注术区与口内外穿通情况,进行有针对性地处理,争取植骨Ⅰ期愈合。     

Peyronie's disease:a silent consequence of diabetes mellitus

Aim:To investigate the clinical characteristics of patients with Peyronie's disease(PD)and diabetes mellitus(DM).Methods:During an 8-year period,a total of 307 men seen at our outpatient clinic were diagnosed with PD.Clinicalcharacteristics,penile deformities and the erectile status of patients with PD and DM together(n=102)were retro-spectively analyzed and compared to patients with PD alone with no risk factors for systemic vascular diseases(n=97).Results:The prevalence of PD among men with DM and sexual dysfunction was 10.7%.The mean ageof diabetic patients with PD was(55.9±8.9)years;in the no risk factor group it was(48.5±9.0)years(P<0.05).The median duration of DM was 5 years.The majority of diabetic patients with PD(56.0%)presented in the chronicphase(P<0.05),and they were more likely to have a severe penile deformity(>60°)than the no risk factor group(P<0.05).In the diabetic group,the most common presenting symptom was penile curvature(81.4 %),followedby a palpable nodule on the shaft of the penis(22.5%)and penile pain with erection(14.7 %).A total of 19.6 % ofpatients were not aware of their penile deformities in the diabetic group.Erectile function,provided by history and inresponse to intracavernosal injection and a stimulation test,was significantly diminished in patients with PD and DM(P<0.05).Conclusion:DM probably exaggerates the fibrotic process in PD.Diabetic patients with PD have ahigher risk of severe deformity and erectile dysfunction(ED).PD seems to be a silent consequence of DM andshould be actively sought in diabetic men.(Asian J Androl 2006 Jan;8:75-79)